BBQ Chicken Braid

A very popular meal around my house is soft roll or bread dough rolled out and filled with simple ingredients (usually diced ham and cheese) and then braided together and baked. It is simple, filling and a unique way to change up the old grilled ham and cheese sandwich appearance.

In an effort to be creative with what I usually stuff inside the braided bread, I decided to make a simple variation on BBQ Chicken Pizza and make a bread braid out of it. Since we’ve been salivating over this new BBQ sauce, what better way to put it to use? An easy, filling, delicious meal that my kids love to help with. This particular version turned out fantastic! How can you go wrong with melted cheese, tender chicken, spicy red onions and tangy barbecue sauce all wrapped up in chewy, soft bread?

I’ve included pictures below the recipe for a quick how-to on cutting the dough strips and braiding the bread. I promise it’s easy!

After the french bread roll recipe has gone through the first rise, split the dough into two parts. Lightly cover one portion and set aside. Roll the other portion into about an 11X17-inch rectangle (I roll mine out directly on a silpat liner to make for easy transfer to the baking sheet and oven). Using a pizza cutter or knife, cut 1-inch wide strips in towards the center, starting on the long sides. There should be a solid strip about 3 inches wide down the center, with the cut strips forming a fringe down each side. Spread half of the barbecue sauce down the center strip. Top with the chicken, onions and cheese. Fold the side strips over filling, alternating strips from each side and pressing them into the dough on the opposite side, forming a braid. Pinch or twist to seal.

Place the braid on a lined baking sheet (or simply transfer the silpat liner to a baking sheet) and let rest for 15 minutes. While it is resting, follow the same steps above for the second portion of dough. Bake the first braid for 15-20 minutes (while the second braid is resting), until golden brown and bread is baked through. Remove from oven and bake the second braid.

Let the braids rest for 5 minutes. Using a serrated knife, cut braid into sections and serve warm.

Braid How-To
With one half of the french bread roll recipe, flatten or roll the dough out to about 11X17 inches. I roll it out directly on my silpat baking mat for easy measuring and then transferring to a rimmed baking sheet. If you don’t have a silpat liner, use parchment paper or press the dough directly onto a lightly greased rimmed baking sheet.

After the dough is rolled out, start cutting strips along each side, leaving a wide strip, about 3-inches across, in the middle. I use my pizza cutter to speed through this step.

After the strips have been cut, layer all of the ingredients down the center strip and start braiding by folding alternate strips across and pressing them down to stick.

As you get to the end, you’ll likely be wondering how to finish this whole thing up.

Keep braiding like normal until you have two final strips extending one from each side.

Fold one side over and press it into the other strip.

Grab the final extending strip and bring it over to lay across the bottom of the braid and gently press it into the dough on the other side. It won’t look perfect, but that’s ok.

Then, using your fingers, pinch the dough together to seal the long seam at the bottom of the braid and any other small seams you may see. It may look a bit lumpy but I promise you won’t care once it is baked to golden perfection.

Finally, pick up the silpat or parchment paper and transfer it to the baking sheet. Ready to bake!

Oh good! I've made these kinds of dinners before with canned crescent rolls, but I try not to buy those. So I'm glad to hear it works out with homemade roll dough!I bet you can appreciate this: I made your sloppy joes recipe and my friends were shocked to hear we were "only" having regular old sloppy joes for dinner. Then my friend wised up and asked, "Yeah, but how did you make them?" I told her it was from scratch. In fact, I didn't even have BBQ sauce, so I made that first. Oh yeah and I made the rolls too. They just rolled their eyes. But I love it! Thanks!

This is one of my favorite meals to serve at Halloween…because it looks just like a mummy (with a dough ball head of course)! I'll have to try the BBQ chicken filling next time I make this. It looks fantastic! I love your blog. Never before have I found a blog that so closely matches my tastes and ideals with food. Keep up the good work. And keep the tasty recipes coming!

Melanie-I made pulled pork the other night and used your bbq sauce recipe and it turned out amazing. My husband loved it and he is pretty picky about his bbq sauce. Thank you for all your wonderful recipes and sharing them with us.

totally going to try this. and I just made your tri color pasta (the one with basil pesto) SO yummy! I have to take something tonight to a ward thing, and was a little nervous making something new, when I know I will have to serve it. But it's delicious!

I made this tonight and my daughter said "A meal everyone likes!" it was perfect. I made one with bbq chicken and the other one was a chicken motz. I used spaghetti sauce, chicken, mushrooms, motz cheese and parm cheese. Then I sprinkled the top with garlic salt. We all talked about other things to stuff in the braid!!!

Jessie – so glad that the BBQ sauce worked for your picky husband! I tell you, it's a keeper (according to MY picky husband).Melissa – I hope the potluck appreciated the pasta salad. Glad you liked it!

We loved this. Oh so much. (Well. Actually one of my kids said they liked the broccolli ham one better but she still licked her plate.)Next time I will chop the onions instead of half moon slices because they were large enough for the kids to pick out. So so delish. And yes, I ended up making the homemade BBQ sauce. Yum-O-Yum.

I actually got brave and attempted this last night for dinner. I made the dough in the morning, and after it’s first rise, I put it in the fridge until I was ready to start. It came together MUCH easier than I could possibly have anticipated. I filled mine with leftover pulled pork, and have now been FORBIDDEN to make pulled pork without tucking it into a braid. Thanks a lot for the post.

OMGOSH>>>>>>>>>>>>>where have you been all my life???!!!! I am sooo happy to have found your blog….I am so checking it every day from now on!!!! This braid is for supper and your carrot cake is for dessert! YUMMO!!!!! Thank you for saving my life!!!!!

I made this last night for dinner. (I wasn’t worried at all about trying out one of YOUR recipes on guests!) Everyone loved it! Although, it would have been more wonderful if I had remembered to put in the cheese! That’s what I get for making this and baked potato salad at the same time (1 hour before guests arrive!) Anyhow, it was a hit & next time with cheese it will be killer! Thanks!

my friend just introduced me to you site and i will be telling other friends about it as well. i made the bbq chicken braid for my family and a friend’s family and everyone loved it! i love the bbq sauce recipe and will definitely be using it from now on. i used half whole wheat flour for the dough and did not use sharp cheddar just out of personal preferance. it was delicious! thank you.

We’ve had some variety of these twice in the last two weeks. I love the technique. We’ve filled ours with leftovers (Italian seasoned chicken) and added sauteed vegetables (onions, peppers and mushrooms) and sauce. We’ve tried a pizza version, ham and cheese with a honey mustard sauce and a philly cheesesteak version. All. Delicious. I was instructed to make extras and freeze them because the boys said they don’t always want to wait for me to make roll dough to have them. It’s a winner here!

I love the possibilities, leftovers revamped and tucked in homemade roll dough. Thanks for sharing!

TaLaisa, I agree with you – I love the possibilities with this meal. A philly cheesesteak version sound awesome – I’m actually posting a philly cheesesteak calzone recipe soon that is probably pretty similar to what you did with this braid!

My family devoured the braids. I made one bbq and one buffalo chicken. I had great success with the french bread dough. Quick question about baking using yeast-what is the most important step(s) when making/baking a yeast dough? Thanks so much!

Melanie ~ sorry i did not let you know sooner, but we loved it so much that I have made it since as well and made it with our favourite pizza ingredients (ground beef, bacon, onions, mushrooms and pickles, and of course pizza sauce and cheese) Totally devine!!!! And the carrot cake ~ oh yum, have made that twice now also!!! Absolute love!!

Just printed off THE BEST CHICKEN FAJITAS and have the chicken marinating and that is for supper tonight!!!

Made the oatmeal chocolate chunk cake last night and it is almost gone already, 1 little row left to eat!! Soooo yummy!!

Every recipe I have tried is an absolute keeper and I check in daily, I am so happy to have found your blog!! Thank you!!

mia – no worries! I’m glad that you have liked this and I love your variation on the filling. I hope you liked the fajitas (some of my husband’s favorites!). Thanks for letting me know you’ve liked those recipes!

Well I just made this and it was absolutely Wonderful. I was a little worried since mine didn’t turn out brown like yours and it didn’t look like it was going to be soft and chewy. But it was, thanks so much. Also do you know why your’s is so brown. I tried butter on my second one and it turned out a little browner.

Crystal – I don’t do anything out of the ordinary to my braid to get it more browned, except for baking it at the 400 degrees specified in the recipe. I’m glad that you liked this recipe, though! Thanks for letting me know.

First of all, we LOVED LOVED LOVED this recipe. I made the homemade dough (which was very easy, too – thank you) and filled the braid with homemade meatballs (sliced), mozz, and tomato sauce the first time. So good! The next time I made it, I did the BBQ chicken like you suggested – also very good.
I just have 1 question: I’d like to make these for a get together and prepare the dough a day ahead. Is that ok? I am not much of a bread baker, so I wasn’t sure if I could make all the dough ahead and prepare the braids the day of the event. Also, can I freeze the dough to have for weeknight dinners?
Thanks so much – love your site!

Karen – I’m glad you liked this recipe! I love the meatball variation…I made too many meatballs for dinner tonight so I’m going to give this a go tomorrow. In answer to your questions, I freeze this dough all the time. I put it in lightly greased freezer-safe ziploc bags and then take it out about 6-7 hours before I want to use it, giving it time to thaw and puff up a bit. You could probably prepare the dough the day before, although I’ve never done it. If you do that, keep the dough covered in the refrigerator and take the dough out a couple of hours before you want to make the braids so it has a chance to come to room temperature. Good luck!

I went by your suggestions for making the dough ahead of time and it worked beautifully. I just split the dough in half, then put the pieces in lightly oiled ziplocs and popped in the fridge. I took them out the next morning and they were all puffed up, but I took them out and put them in a bowl to come to room temp. No difference! I froze a couple too!

Oh wow this was an absolute home run – it turned out perfectly and the whole family loved it!
I used whole-grain mustard as a base and piled on left over roast chicken, some roasted garlic, zucchini and peppers, my favourite sun-dried tomatoes and about three different cheeses. The result was heavenly.
I’m thinking of trying a chicken-pesto version of this tonight with some spinach…I’ll let you know how it turns out!

Hi Krissie – yay for homerun meals! Thanks for letting me know that you liked this and let me just say that your changes to the filling sound incredible! I love the garlic, zucchini, peppers theme (oh, AND sun dried tomatoes). My mouth is watering just thinking about the braid you concocted!

OK so this is officially my go-to recipe when I want an easy crowd-pleaser! Since then I’ve made two aubergine pesto-chicken-mushroom-roast veg braids, and another two with homemade sunblushed tomatoes, feta cheese and fresh rosemary. Perfection each time! Thank you so much!

I keep all my favorite recipes in a binder…you are going to have your own section pretty soon! I tried this BBQ chicken braid yesterday and loved it. I am going to make it for my freezer meal swap next month so I LOVE the idea that this dough can be prepared the day ahead. One thing I did learn is that it is MUCH easier to complete the filling and braid if the dough is on parchment paper… it also allowed me to pick up the braid halfway through cooking and place it on the pizza stone to make the bottom crispier. I will put a little more salt in the dough next time though as I thought it could use a little more zing Thank you for another no fail recipe! I didn’t try your BBQ sauce recipe this time but I will be sure to soon.

I love this! My family loved this too. I guess that’s what really counts. LOL It is so easy using the bread machine to make the dough . I have “stuffed” it with all kinds of different things now. Tonight, one will be your BBQ chicken and the 2nd with be pepperoni pizza for the kids. Next time, who knows, I’m thinking white sauce with shrimp, spinach and roasted garlic.

Crystal – I would freeze it before baking. Then I would take it out of the freezer and let it thaw to room temperature and rise until slightly puffed (it will probably take several hours) – then bake as directed in the recipe. If you want a quicker option, you could freeze it after it has baked and then just reheat in the oven or microwave but I’m afraid it might dry out the bread that way. I’m not sure but either option is worth a try.

[…] half we didn’t eat because I had another delicious meal in mind. My friend Kelsey shared this Barbecue Chicken Braid recipe from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe with me some time ago, but I wasn’t so hot on taking […]

Tracey – the pictures might make the rolls/braid look more shiny than they really are, to be honest. A lot of people will brush an egg wash over their rolls/bread before baking to give it a shiny appearance but I usually don’t do that so my guess is that in “real life” they don’t look as shiny as they do in the pictures.

I made this tonight, Melanie and they turned out GREAT!! I changed the filling as we were having the braid WITH bbq chicken, so I stuffed one with sundried tomatoes from my own garden, pesto, feta and mozzarella; and I did the other with traditional pizza things like pepperoni, sauce, banana peppers and mozzarella.

I have a feeling my family will refuse sandwiches as supper food anymore, they’ll want braids instead! Thanks for sharing the recipe and technique!!

We are making the BBQ chicken braid and a sloppy joe braid…… My friend and I were wondering if you could make this into a breakfast braid with eggs,bacon,sausage, and cheese… Do you think the oven would burn the eggs before the bread is finished cooking… the braids are in the oven so we don’t know how they turned out but we will let you know!!!!

I made this tonight! It was a huge hit. I did not braid mine though. I just made it like a Stromboli. I will be making this again and will have to try some of your other recipes. I just found your site today through Moneysavingmom.com. I was in desperate need of something for dinner and I had all the ingredients for this! Thanks for a great recipe!

Was FABULOUS! Ate one the first night- then froze the second (unbaked) – still on the parchment, wrapped snugly in foil, on a cookie sheet to keep it flat while freezing. Then a week later, took out from freezer and defrosted in fridge, let rise a short time on counter (was nervous leaving chicken out longer on counter at room temp so didn’t rise as much as the first one)- then baked as per instructions (needed a bit more time)- but was just as good as the first time! Just discarded foil, and lifted it using the parchment I made it on/froze it with onto a baking sheet and threw in oven. Kids highly impressed and now their fav meal! Thanks!

Made this for dinner tonite! Wonderful! I was so proud of myself. Made the dough this morning and put it in the fridge after the first punch down. Put it together later. Yummy! We will be having this for leftovers this week. Served with a green salad.

I made this bread as an appetizer for Easter, and it was a huge hit!! I made 2 small loaves (I had to make one without cheese for my brother) to bring to Easter dinner, and have a third at home for dinner tonight–can’t wait!

This was very easy and everyone enjoyed! I took the 2nd one to a friend who’s moving into a new house and her family loved it! Thank you so much for sharing and thank you for showing the braid technique!

Just made this dough this morning. I used 1/2 wheat flour, 1/2 white flour. What a delicious bread! It was so easy to make. 1/2 of the dough turned into a pepperoni, cheese braid (which was fabulous) and the other 1/2 became hamburger buns. You have changed my life Mel. Homemade bread for me!!!

Mel, I am going to try this 100% from scratch (dough and BBQ sauce) and I’m a little nervous. Remember I’m in prego/path-of-least-resistance mode. But I’m thinking I might be able to take one of them to a friend, which would make it worth the effort. Do you think one of the braids is enough for a family of 5 if I made a couple of sides and dessert?

If you are thinking about making this recipe, do it. It’s great for numerous reasons: It’s great for entertaining, it’s a lot easier than you might think and great for presentation – oh and it’s so versatile! While eating this tonight my husband and I were already trying to think of different fillings we want to try next with it.

For time sake, we used bottled BBQ sauce (bullseye brand) and pre made pizza dough.

Made this tonight for dinner, and it was so so good! The bread was so soft and chewy, and it looks beautiful, but was so simple! I can’t wait to try different toppings…I think maybe a chicken parm braid is next! Thanks for the great recipe, the pics were really helpful!

Lacy – anything from a green salad, to fresh fruit and veggies would be great. It’s a pretty hearty meal so I’d go light on the side dishes. I often throw cottage cheese on the table or make a fresh fruit salad.

This is coming a bit late, but I absolutely LOVE your site! I saw above that prepared french bread dough would work, but I’m wondering how a premade pizza dough would work. There’s a store by me that makes them fresh and without bad ingredients.

I’ve made this twice now. The second time for a few friends. Both times I didn’t add the onion and used Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce. It was really good both times and all our friends devoured both rolls! Thanks for the recipe!

Made this today using All Recipes Irresistible Whole Wheat Challah dough instead of the French bread dough… I baked chicken thighs with thyme, salt and pepper before shredding and used homemade barbeque sauce with extra garlic, ginger and onions…was delicious! (I used 2/3 of the Whole Wheat Challah dough in the Chicken Braid and 1/3 shaped and baked into a round loaf of delicious bread— let that rise for the second time while the Braid was baking. Worked great!) Thanks for a good recipe.

A little late to the party, but this sounds so yummy! I make a similiar bacon cheeseburger braid (ground beef, ketchup, mustard, relish, bacon, and cheese) but I am definitely making the BBQ chicken version this weekend! Thank you for the idea

I’ve been wanting to try this for awhile but was in the middle of a move and just got around to it. I’m living in a foreign country and accidentally used baking powder instead of yeast (need to learn the language) and it still tasted good! Can’t wait to try it again with real yeast! My 4 year old son said thank you for making this yummy food 3 or 4 times throughout the dinner. I say that’s a success! Thanks for always having delicious recipes on your blog.

YOU ROCK! I made this for three families last night. I had two raving texts this morning, my son informed me that his buddies loved his lunch. My own family finsihed a roll last night. Yep, this is going into my binder of recipes:)